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Appointment further strengthens the IIOC mission to promote the value of high quality accredited certification

Mike James, Managing Director of Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Ltd (LRQA), has been re-elected Chairman of the Independent International Organisation for Certification (IIOC) for a second term. The Chair of IIOC is elected annually by all IIOC members.

Established in 1993, IIOC is an independent organisation, committed to drawing the worlds of standardisation, certification and accreditation closer together to the benefit of business communities worldwide.

Marcus Long, Chief Executive of IIOC said; “IIOC has two clear priorities which are to stimulate increased demand for and to preserve the credibility of accredited certification. Mike’s chairmanship of IIOC has helped drive these issues over the last 12 months and I look forward to continuing to build on the progress that we have made and taking this further with Mike and the rest of the IIOC membership as we move through 2013 and beyond.”

In particular, IIOC will work on areas such as the revision of key ISO management system standards, promoting the value of accredited certification into both established and developing markets and sectors worldwide. In parallel, IIOC will continue to underpin their activities with a focus on ensuring that accredited certification continues to deliver business benefits to the market at large.

Senior technical expertise on the IIOC Technical Committee, whose aim is to help shape the standards and schemes that underpin the certification industry.

The IIOC Technical Committee undertakes technical representation work with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), the European Aerospace Quality Group (EAQG), the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), and the Pacific Accreditation Co-operation (PAC) as well as collaboration at a senior level with a variety of these organisations, most notably ISO and the IAF.

Commenting on his re-election, James said; “I am delighted to have been re-appointed as Chair. IIOC is a vehicle for change and we are gathering real momentum as we focus on raising the bar for accredited certification. Whilst we are in transitional times given the current ISO standards revision process, the collective commitment amongst our members to driving improvements has an important role to play in helping the global providers of accredited certification to connect with key stakeholders, including governments and the business world.”

Mike James continues as Managing Director of LRQA.

Ends

24th July

Notes to editors

Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Ltd (LRQA) is a subsidiary of the Lloyd's Register Group Limited. We are a leading independent provider of Business Assurance services including certification, validation, verification and training. For Group details see www.lr.org/entities.

IIOC was set up in 1993 by a number of key international certification bodies, each delivering a range of management systems certification schemes. IIOC represents their views on management system certification issues and provides technical input to decision making in this field. For further details see www.iioc.org

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